Page 19 of Kennedy

“Not really, but that’s because I haven’t felt the need to. When I’m tired, I close the shop for a day or two and spend time with Danny and Seymour.” Or at least that was what he’d done until now. Seymour didn’t really have a lot of time for him anymore, and that wouldn’t get better when he started working, but Lewis didn’t hold it against him. Seymour had met his mate, and he was focused on him.

Just like it was normal for Lewis to be focused on his mate. He couldn’t think of anything better than spending time with Kennedy, maybe on a beach, watching him swim. Or maybe they could go to some national park and hike. The world was big, and since Lewis was a Nix, he could shimmer them wherever they wanted to go.

“We’ll do whatever you want,” Kennedy reassured him.

“I want to spend more time with you, and a vacation sounds good. Maybe not right away, but in a few months?” That way, they’d get to know each other better first. They might be mates and destined to spend the rest of their lives together, but Lewis wanted more before he agreed to go anywhere with Kennedy.

Kennedy nodded and leaned closer. Lewis was stunned when his mate kissed the corner of his lips because he hadn’t expected it. They’d kissed once, but he hadn’t been sure it was permission to kiss whenever they wanted. They were still at an awkward place in their relationship where they didn’t know what the other liked and were hesitant to do spontaneous things like this.

“Okay?” Kennedy asked.

Lewis leaned closer to him and kissed him more fully. They were in a public place, so he didn’t lose control, but he wanted Kennedy to know how okay this was with him. “Perfect,” he murmured.

“You should start thinking about our vacation, then.”

Lewis couldn’t stop smiling. “I’d have to know what you like first. Beach?”

Kennedy wrinkled his nose. It was adorable, which wasn’t a word Lewis would normally have associated with him. “It depends. I don’t hate the beach, but I don’t like spending my entire day stretched out on a towel, sunning myself. As long as we can swim and do excursions and stuff like that, I wouldn’t mind.” He took a sip of his coffee. “Please tell me you’re not one of those people who want to spend their entire vacation sleeping and resting.”

Lewis laughed. “I don’t think so. I enjoy spending time on my couch, watching TV and reading, but I also like hiking and exploring new places.”

“Good. We really are well suited, aren’t we?”

“Well, we’re mates. That’s what happens with mates.”

“I don’t know how I got so lucky, but now that you’re mine, I’m never letting you go.”

Lewis hesitated and decided to take a leap. He leaned closer and took Kennedy’s hand, linking their fingers together. Kennedy’s hand was bigger, but like everything else, they fit. “I don’t want you to ever let go,” he murmured.

“You don’t mind me being a little possessive?”

“Not at all. I want to feel like I belong. I want to feel like I’m good enough as I am.”

From the way his parents talked about mates and bonds, Lewis had always felt like his mate wouldn’t really know him. If he sacrificed everything to focus completely on Kennedy, he wouldn’t be himself anymore. His parents didn’t understand that, but Seymour did, and it looked like Kennedy did, too. Lewis didn’t have to sacrifice his personality, his job, or anything else to be a good mate for Kennedy. Kennedy saw him, and he liked him.

“I really need to find out who told you that you aren’t good enough,” Kennedy grumbled.

“No one. I guess it’s just an impression I got from the way I grew up. I was told so many times that who I was didn’t matter because as soon as I found my mate, I would have to squash everything and become another person, that I started to believe that maybe I wasn’t good enough. I fully expected my mate to want me to change. I don’t know how my parents were before they met, and I know they love each other very much, but they’re each other’s lives. They’re always together, always agree on everything, but that’s not possible, is it?”

“Not when two people are in a relationship.”

“It’s like when one of them decides something, the other thinks that the only thing they can do is agree. I don’t want that for us. I don’t want us to cancel our personalities just because we’re together.”

“We won’t. I might not know you well yet, but I can already tell that I like you just the way you are. I want to get to know the real Lewis. I don’t need you to always agree with me. Hell, I don’t want you to because it wouldn’t be a real relationship. You can be yourself with me, Lewis. No matter who you are, you’ll never not be good enough.”

Lewis might not know Kennedy well, but he believed him.

Chapter Four

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KENNEDY WALKED INTOthe conference room whistling. He didn’t care that both Hawthorne and Jamison stared at him with wide eyes. He grinned at them, then flopped into one of the chairs, ready to start the last part of the program.

“Who are we talking to first?” he asked.

“What happened to you?” Jamison asked instead of answering. “Were you replaced by a pod person?”

Kennedy rolled his eyes. Hawthorne knew about Lewis, but he was the only one. Kennedy wasn’t hiding the fact that he’d met his mate. It was just that Hawthorne was closer to him than the others. Kennedy had asked him about Lewis before he realized that Lewis was his mate, so he’d been there since the very beginning. Jamison and Rhonda, on the other hand, had no idea what was happening.

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